11 months for Harper...

It is so hard to believe that we are so close to celebrating Harper's 1st birthday, but alas, here we are celebrating month 11. So much has happened this last month most notably related to Harper's mobility. He has mastered the art of crawling and is doing it on hands and knees now and honestly - don't blink or you might loose sight of him! He also decided that he likes the view from up high so he's learned to pull up and is cruising a bit around furniture, his music table, his crib, etc. etc. Needless to say - we're exhausted! Ha! Though we are at least still getting 12+ hours out of him at night - but still...we're exhausted! :)

He has also started going to school. He goes three days a week and while we've had a few short illnesses as a result (gotta build up that immune system) he's really loving it and I know a lot of his mobility success is due to being around other new explorers - they do learn so much from each other. I'm already looking forward to the little pieces of art work to come home that he's participated in - definitely a benefit of going to school - goodness knows I'm not about to be putting paint on his hands and feet to do crafts! Ah! Just the thought of the mess has me shaking. ;) 

He's doing some talking now as well - we're hearing "Momma," "Dadda," and we actually think we've heard something close to resembling "Adam." He also totally knows how to get your attention - if you aren't looking at him - he'll cough and sure enough that gets your attention at which point he just grins and laughs. Oh boy - I think we're in trouble. 

He also had his first ice cream, first ride in a shopping cart, and did I mention he can climb steps now? Oh no? Well yeah, he does that too now. See above about the exhausted part. 

To celebrate the 11 month mark, which happened to land on the opening day of the Olympics, we went with an Olympic themed ice cream cake. Seemed fitting for multiple reasons but mostly because there is no doubt this 29 weeker has won the gold for defying the odds. Go Harper go!

Old School Pool Party...

I had some of the best friends growing up and an awesome group of friends to survive high school with. Sadly I haven't kept in touch with them all as the years have passed but every now and again we find an excuse to get back together - this time it was for a pool party. 

We had lots of pool parties in high school, mostly because our friend Ashley had a pool in her backyard and her folks were always so gracious to have us over - luckily her folks still own the house and still have the pool and were still gracious enough to have us over. 

While the location hadn't changed - the atmosphere sure did. Sodas were replaced with wine and beer and the numbers increased - mainly due to the enormous amount of offspring we have all produced over the years. :) 

It was so fun catching up with everyone and best of all seeing the next generation hang out and share laughs in the pool that we all grew up laughing in. 

Hiking & a Picnic at Great Falls...

A few weekends ago we loaded up the family for a Sunday afternoon hike at Great Falls National Park. It's amazing that this place is just 15 minutes from our house and yet we've been really bad about taking advantage of this beautiful National Park in our backyard! We purchased a season pass to encourage ourselves to visit more often - and I think we will. 

Adam was not so impressed with our hike - that is until he saw the falls - and then he changed his tune. Boy is it ever magnificent - and again - practically in our backyard. We snapped a ton of pictures then had a nice picnic lunch under the shade of the trees. 

A simple but active and fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon - looking forward to many more visits - especially when it results in this kid who swears he's never tired to do this on the drive home... 

A Patriotic 10 Month Celebration for Harper...

Harper hit the big 10 month mark on July 5th. He had another great month making lots and lots of progress including finally doing some crawling. He actually put that together during our big Disney trip and while he was still doing the military style crawl boy could he get where he wanted to go - and fast! It was fun to finally see him move towards you - all smiles and ready to climb into your lap. The best! 

He continued to be a solid eater and sleeper - eating everything he's been given, including feeding himself Cheerios, bananas and cheese and sleeping nearly 12 hours every night. Go Harper! 

With all the pool time he got during our big Disney adventure we could tell that he loves the water. He just splashes around and when you've got him in the big pool you can see those legs just kick kick kicking under water. A happy water baby!

Playing with him is such a joy and Adam loves his Harper play time as well. Rolling balls back and forth is still a favorite and he loves his music table and this Elmo book he has that plays sounds - he lights up when he hears Elmo's voice - who doesn't? 

To celebrate the 10 month mark we built on the excitement of celebrating Independence Day and did a flag cake. He looked ready to dive in! 

Happy 10 months Harper!! 

Family & Friends Filled 4th of July Weekend...

This was the first time in awhile that we stayed at home for the 4th of July - having just traveled 2,000+ miles it seemed like a reasonable decision to stay put. We managed to pack in a whole lot of family and friends time into the long weekend and after hosting parties all three nights we felt like we'd traveled 2,000+ miles again - ha! 

First up was an evening with my family - Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Aunt Kathleen & Olivia. We did a taco bar, took lots of pictures and enjoyed the nicest weather of the weekend by sitting around a fire and shooting off fireworks in the backyard. The kiddos loved doing sparklers - and let's face it - so did the adults. A great kick-off to the 4th of July weekend. 

Next up was a dinner with Ommy & Poppy. We did steamed artichokes with hollandaise sauce for dipping as an appetizer then we had a "Salmon Off" between Poppy and myself. He grilled his with lemon, dill, garlic and olive oil while I roasted mine with a dijon mustard and honey topping. We both agreed the others was best - making it a tie I suppose! :) Even though the weather was drizzly we caught a break in the rain and got to do some sparklers and fireworks with them as well. Adam even got to shoot off a sparkler sword which brought sparklers to a whole new level. 

Finally for the actual 4th of July we had our good friends Paul & Ashley over. We enjoyed some awesome appetizers of shrimp cocktail and lobster stuffed pretzel then it was a traditional BBQ with sliders and hot dogs. Festive red, white and blue rice krispie treats rounded out the menu. We also had to compete with some cool and rainy weather - but again we had a break in the precipitation and got to finish off our stash of fireworks and sparklers with the neighbors joining in on the fun. 

A festive and first 4th of July for Harper and lots of memories made for all of us.